Chapter 22

Darcy sat there for a long moment staring at her.

"What happened at the benefit three years ago?" she repeated.

"You jump right in don't you Elizabeth?" he teased, "I'll answer that, I promise, but I think I need to go back further than the benefit, after all, that was several weeks after we first met."

"Alright, what happened when we first met?" she asked, a coy smile on her face, that meeting she did remember happily. But she was curious to know his feelings on the matter.

"I was enamoured," he said with a smile, "At first sight. You certainly threw me Lizzie, I'd never been attracted to someone so instantly in my life. Nor have I since," he admitted, before recounting their first encounter from his point of view.

The day they had first met had been Lizzie's first day working at Darcy Enterprises, she'd been a nervous wreck all morning despite all of Jane's attempts at soothing her, assuring her she'd be wonderful. Lizzie herself was still in shock that she'd even got the job, as it was well above her qualifications.

She'd arrived half an hour early and had reported to Human Resources as she'd been instructed and received her employee badge and pass and been directed up to the main office on the 21st floor to report to Mr. Charles Bingley.

She'd been surprised, when she arrived at Charles Bingley's office to find a young man sitting behind the desk, jovially laughing on the phone as he ran a hand through his more strawberry than blonde hair. She knocked tentatively and when he looked up his face had brightened even more and he'd gestured for her to enter, quickly wrapping up his conversation.

The morning had passed in a blur as Mr. Bingley, insisting on being called 'Charlie, or at the very least Charles!' had led her around the office and introduced her to everyone she needed to know, got her settled in her new office and set her up with Margaret, her successor, who was to train her on the job for three months before she retired, at the tender age of thirty, to have her twins.

"When you walked into my office I just about forgot to breath," Darcy said, grinning stupidly. "You were absolutely beautiful. I couldn't take my eyes off you. Your personnel picture hadn't done you justice, and then you were funny and charming and witty, and you actually argued with me when you thought I was wrong. Most people were too afraid of displeasing their boss to argue their case so vehemently! I was immediately taken with you." Lizzie felt herself blush at his account.

"After you left the office with Charlie, I began to realise how inappropriate it was for me to feel that way, and I told myself I should stop. But you were too enticing. So for the weeks leading up to the benefit I let myself get close to you, or at least as close as I could allow, given the circumstances. There were a number of times I actually wished you would quit, and then I could date you with no concerns. But I knew that was selfish of me," He trailed off.

"But it all changed," She said, "We did have a great relationship growing, then after the benefit you closed off completely. You acted like I was dirt,"

"For which I will always be eternally regretful," he said, "I'm profusely sorry for the way I acted and treated you. I never meant to be so harsh, but I hope you'll understand somewhat when I'm done." She nodded for him to continue.

"At the benefit, you looked so incredibly stunning that I couldn't keep my eyes off you the whole night. You were performing your job with such happy candour that I knew that you truly belonged with the company. A fact which both elated and saddened me, because I knew if you weren't working for me I could pursue a relationship with you, but I knew if you didn't work for me I'd never find a better person for your job. By the time dinner was over, I'd just about decided to throw all caution to the wind and just dive in anyway. That's why I asked you to dance. I wanted to tell you how I felt." He paused a moment, ran a hand through his hair.

"We almost kissed," she murmured, relaying the next event of the night. He took a breath before he continued.

"Yes, I'd wanted to kiss you since I'd first met you, so I intended to do just that. Before your date interrupted us." He said, his last sentence dripping with anger. "Realising what an impulsive thing I'd been about to do, I stepped away." He paused, rubbing his chin in thought, a sad expression on his face.

"I went to wallow at the bar and Charlie found me and tried to cheer me up, his pep talks are less than helpful by the way, and then this whole thing happened with his sister Caroline, and by the time I returned to find you the moment had well and truly passed. I saw you with your boyfriend, laughing and dancing, and I knew I was too late. I admit that I was jealous. Really jealous, but you seemed so happy, so I stepped down…" he trailed off at the look on her face, "What?" he asked, her frown was growing.

"That's not the whole story!" she cried, "You said you'd tell me the truth!"

"What? That is the truth Lizzie! And by the time I'd given up trying to keep my distance from you, I'd already messed up so badly that you didn't seem able to forgive me, and that was two years ago now!"

"Of course I wasn't going to forgive you! I was a mistake anyway, right? AND Luke Masters wasn't my boyfriend!" She yelled.

"What?" he asked, actual confusion crossing his face.

"What?" she repeated his question, "I said Luke was never my boyfriend, he just came as my date that night because I thought I was expected to bring one,"

"No, not that, I already knew that. What do you mean you were a mistake?" he asked and she looked at him like he'd grown another head.

"I know Darcy, you don't have to pretend. I heard you. After you left the dance floor, and I'd told Luke off for his audacity to interrupt us, I went to find you, I heard you talking to Charlie, and I heard what you said about me!" Darcy's face paled, and she proceeded to repeat the horrible words.

"She's pretty, but her pretty looks are the only appeal she holds. You know my feelings for her Charles. What almost happened was a mistake!"

For a long moment they were both silent, Lizzie was on the verge of tears at the stinging memory. She stood up and paced across the room a few steps before she spun around and spoke.

"Then I saw you and Caroline go off into a bedroom! So don't even tell me 'this whole thing happened' with her. I'm not stupid Will!" She cried, tears actually did escape her eyes. Darcy was still sitting at the table, his mouth opening and closing like a fish as he tried to speak, but no words came out. Seeing her tears he stood up and crossed over to her, pulling her into his arms. She wanted to resist, she still felt the sting of his rejection from all those years ago. But she didn't pull away, letting herself feel his warmth, just for a second.

Darcy wanted to speak, to dispel the mistruths from what she'd just said, but Lizzie was determined to finish. She quickly stepped out of his embrace to finish her side of the tale.

"I couldn't believe you'd just almost kissed me, and then told Charlie, another man that I work for, that I was nothing but pretty and almost a mistake for you. Not only did your rejection sting me, but I didn't even feel confident in my job anymore! Then I saw you go off with Caroline! Who truly does possess nothing but looks and a vapid personality, and I thought you the biggest hypocrite! I was furious. That's why I couldn't stand being around you any more Darcy. I knew the truth, what you really thought of me. You rejected me wholly and I couldn't get over that, and then to top it off, you'd gone off with a woman who I couldn't stand, who was the embodiment of every fault you held against me. You lied! So I went back to Luke and pretended like everything was fine. I was determined to prove you wrong in your assumptions of me. And I was determined to hate you." She paused for a second, wiped the remainder of her tears away and looked him straight in the eye.

"So I don't understand, Darcy, how you could think so poorly of me, and then change your opinion so rapidly and so fully."

"Lizzie…" he said, so quietly, his voice pained, she gave him a sceptical look and he shook his head sadly.

"Lizzie, no,"

"Don't lie, Will, please, give me that much credit," her voice sounded defeated.

"Believe me Elizabeth, what I'm about to say is no lie…" He took her hands in his, "You're wrong, you're so incredibly, off the base, wrong that I almost want to laugh, but for seeing your pain," his voice was earnest.

"What you heard me say, was not in reference to you, your timing was so unfortunate," he pulled her back over to the table and sat before her, still grasping her hands, his eyes pleading for her to believe him.

"Charlie had come to find me, because his sister had seen our almost kiss on the dance floor and she was upset. See, a few weeks previous I had escorted Caroline, as a favour to Charlie, to a function for her work. Caroline, interpreting this as the beginning of a relationship between us, had told all of her colleagues about me and our fledging romance, she tried to seduce me, when I took her home, she tried to kiss me. I turned her down, after all, I'd just met you and was quiet enraptured, but even if I hadn't met you, nothing would have existed between us. I can't stand Caroline.

"Charlie, having an inclination to believe his sister, thought I may actually have started dating her, he came to warn me that Caroline was upset and that she was coming over to cause a scene. I set him straight about our relationship. That's what you over heard Lizzie, my comments about Caroline. If you'd stayed a moment longer, you would have heard my wonderful comments about you. Then what you saw upstairs, was not a… a tryst. What you saw, was me leading Caroline away from the public eye so she couldn't make a scene when I set her straight and told her, that I in no way, intended to date her."

Lizzie was gob smacked. Surely she couldn't have been so wrong! But why would Darcy lie? Especially when there were so many people who could contradict his story?

"Lizzie, by the time the next years benefit rolled around I'd realised how stupid I'd been. I tried to rectify my mistake by returning to my true personality around you, I couldn't keep up a charade like that anymore. But the damage was done, at the time, I'll admit I thought you were being ridiculous, not to forgive me, even eventually, but now I realise how wrong I was. We were both wrong Lizzie, none of this should ever have happened. If you hadn't heard, or believed what you did, maybe my act of cold indifference wouldn't have held up so long and we could have overcome it sooner."

"You were truly speaking of Caroline?" she asked, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

"I was, oh I wish you'd heard what I'd said about you Lizzie, and things would have been so different then."

"What did you say?" she asked, he blushed and gave her a small smile.

"I said that you were the most beautiful creature I had ever beheld and that I was sure that you were a woman that I could fall in love with," he answered, his eyes staring into her own. She gasped, a little surprised, firstly at that declaration and secondly at the burning honestly in his look.

"And I meant it," he added.

"Lizzie, you're truly an amazing person. If I hadn't known that already, then your willingness to help me this past week and your selflessness when it came to Georgiana would have proven it to me. Now that you know the truth, I can't bear to let you walk away from me again. I've wanted more from our relationship since the first moment we met, and while I'm profusely sorry about what happened between us at this year's benefit, I cannot bring myself to regret it, because it was the best night of my life,"

"Will…" she whispered, looking into his eyes. The way they were sitting, knees touching as they faced each other, both their elbows resting on their knees they were already close, but Darcy was leaning in impossibly closer. His gaze, which had been so intent on her eyes, dropped for a moment to her lips, which she unconsciously wet, before returning to meet her eyes.

"Will, I…" she started, but she was cut off, because suddenly his soft lips were upon her own, gently persuading her to kiss him back. His closed lips touched hers three times before his tongue ran along her lower lip, begging entrance. Lizzie's lips parted of their own accord, as if this was the most natural thing in the world and she felt herself kissing him back, slowly and fervidly, filled with emotion. After a few moments Darcy pulled back from the burning kiss, his expression torn, she could see the longing in his eyes, but sensed the resolve in his body. That was all that would happen between them tonight. His hand reached up and stroked her cheek.

"Goodnight, my Lizzie," he whispered, raising from his seat, his hand still on her cheek, he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead then quickly left the room, leaving Lizzie with a head full of thoughts she couldn't comprehend, and the residue of a kiss making her tingle with desire.